I sit here reading about the struggles of the Shadow Mountain Golf Club, “Can this PD golf course turn its future around?,” Feb. 28, and wonder: will the golf clubs ever learn? You are pricing yourselves out of business and have no one to blame but yourselves.

Shadow Mountain last year advertised 18 holes at $55. How is raising your price to $65 this year going to attract more golfers?

You're not alone among valley clubs in this ridiculous move, though. How is this getting more golfers out to your courses?

Golfers are no dummies and playing with prices is not going unnoticed. You all better change your tactics or there will be more Rancho Mirage Country Club-type situations in the near future.

Most of your winter business is from Canadian snowbirds who are living on a 75-cent dollar. You do the math!

Fine city management doesn’t happen by itself. It requires strong people of integrity as well as vision to achieve positive results.

Iris Smotrich, as a Rancho Mirage City Council Member and mayor, has shown leadership, vision and heart. Her experience in business and entrepreneurship gives her a unique perspective to help guide city policy and city departments to foster innovation, growth and excellence.

She’s a leading voice on emergency preparedness for our city as well as fiscal responsibility.

A tireless worker on committees, commissions and, yes, even with CVAG and its Safety Committee, Iris leads the field in this campaign in her record of accomplishment.

As a friend, I know her to be compassionate, generous, responsive and respectful to all — with humor and intelligence and humility. Her strong commitment to public service, not for personal gain but to advance our fine city, is genuine.

I will happily and enthusiastically cast my ballot for Iris Smotrich, and urge all voters to do the same.

Leon Pascucci, Rancho Mirage

Holding authorities accountable

I support and respect our men and women in blue. Having said that, I’m saddened again with another mass murder; worse yet, at a school with children.

Liberals and conservatives can argue their beliefs, but innocent children were murdered and let down. We need hard school security. Gun-free zones have been at the forefront in too many of these events.

The two main issues have been gun control and mental health. We have an equally important and sinister issue — law enforcement accountability. “See something, say something” is irrelevant if law enforcement drops the ball.

Multiple red flags were ignored or not followed up on effectively, if at all in this latest massacre, which could have been prevented.

We can improve some gun issues — make background checks mandatory in all states, change the legal gun age and secure our schools; but all is in vain if local, state and federal law agencies are politicized or drop the ball.

Unfortunately, we are all too familiar with some being complicit lately. This absolutely frightens me and threatens our Constitution. I can only hope officials are held accountable for their negligence.